First taste of live racing was the drags at York US 30 in PA about 1970, witnessed national events and big time drivers. Family and friends introduced me to Williams Grove in 75 or 76. I thought it was so cool to see those sprint cars fly down the straights like a drag car...............Then they would throw them sideways into the turn...Wow!!
Became a full time junkie when I worked for the owner of Lincoln Speedway, got a season pass and have been a fixture there for many moons.
It was probably around 1950 when my Dad started taking my Brother and me to the "Big Cars" at Jungle Park. I was hooked on the noise and the speed. The cars were a
scary looking bunch of iron and the track was no better. The big trees served as guard rails and a nearby creek would stop anything else. Nonetheless, I've been going to races all over the country for years....have no idea how many but I will probably keep going so long as I'm able.
First race was 1957 Toledo Raceway Park, dirt supermodifieds. Followed the supers on dirt and asphalt for 10 years watching Johnny White, Dick Carter, Dick Good, Gordon Dukes, Leo Caldwell, Joy Fair, Sammy Sessions, Gordon and Nolan Johncock, and the Beale brothers, Rollie and Al. First pure sprint race was spring of 1967 @ Eldora with USAC as we began to follow Rollie on his quest for the championship which was his but derailed by a flip and broken leg at Reading in September. From the 1950's to the 2020's, so many great wheelmen, my favorite racing is still the ballet on dirt with only the cage on top. See you in 2023!
June 1976 Terre Haute Action Track - Tom Bigelow won that day. Saw him at the IMS Museum a few years ago and thanked him for being a big reason I got hooked on non-wing sprint car racing. We both smiled a lot during that conversation.
This has been a cool thread. Lots of good stories. I don't remember for sure my first race. It would have been probably 1964 or 1965 at Kokomo. I would have been 2 or 3 years old. My Dad has been gone for 23 years, and he said that is where I learned numbers and colors. The cars looked similar to today's cars, but were considered supers, because they had cages. Plenty of good drivers back then. Allen Barr, Ed Kennens, Dick Gaines, Ron Fisher, Butch Wilkerson, Jim Elliott, Mark Caldwell. I could go on and on.
The first race I distinctly remember was a USAC midget race in 70 or 71 cages were optional. About half the field had them. I had seen cars flip before and was very aware of what could happen if one did without a cage. Mel Kenyon won that night.
Back then USAC didn't run tracks smaller than a half. So, I didn't see my first USAC race until 76 at Winchester. Twin 50's won by Marvin Carmen. Saw my first Hoosier Hundred in 1978 won by Billy Englehart. Lots of fun times and have met some real nice people and a couple of know it all jerks lol.
My first WoO race was 1978 at Kokomo and it was non wing. Steve Kinser won and Bobby Kinser was second.
Memory isn't that great, but my first sprint race on pavement was mid-sixty's at Anderson. First time on dirt was later at West Memphis. We couldn't believe how all those great seats right up next to the fence were open. We learned a quick, dirty lesson. Not that I remember it, but my first midget race was in July of 1947; I was born on Feb. 6, 1947. So I have been told. I think I liked it. The midget race was at the Armscamp Speedway in Alexandria, In.
